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See Kate Beckinsale naked! And, oh yeah, there's a movie ...
The New York Times had so little to say about Whiteout that they devoted the first quarter of their review to talking about the opening shower scene, which is apparently the only thing that caught their interest about the movie:
"The first thing Kate Beckinsale does in Whiteout is take a shower. This may be because her character, a United States marshal named Carrie Stetko, needs to rinse off the grime of Antarctica, where she is stationed. Or, as seems more likely, it may be because the filmmakers, realizing that she would be spending most of the movie swaddled in thick parkas and layers of thermal protection, felt that some audience members might enjoy seeing Ms. Beckinsale in her underwear and then out of it behind a strategically fogged glass door. Which is not to imply that the shower scene, interrupted by a knock at the door—'I'm in the shower,' Carrie cleverly replies—is more contrived or absurd than anything else that happens in this studiously mediocre little thriller, which was directed by Dominic Sena."
Now we love a good shower scene as much as the next person, but it would have been nice to see such a widely read mainstream publication talk about the fact that Whiteout is based on the Greg Rucka/Steve Lieber comic book and give us a little more background about, you know, the film. In fairness to them, they do mention the comic in the info box below the review, but only after they spend quite a bit of time talking about penguins ... which have absolutely nothing to do with the movie. We'd rate this review 1 out of 4 stars.
But then we suddenly noticed—The NY Times isn't the only one fascinated by Beckinsale's flash of skin. And some critics have even become so fixated on her underwear that they've structured their entire review around it, like Roger Moore of the Orlando Sentinel:
"Whiteout as a movie title might signify the whiter-than-white panties Kate Beckinsale treats us to about five minutes into her new thriller. But it doesn't. It suggests her English rose complexion and the milky white skin she bares in the Obligatory Kate Beckinsale Shower Scene, a staple of Kate's post-Underworld action films. But not really. What 'whiteout' refers to, in this indifferent thriller based on a grittier comic book, is that dark, wind-whipped blizzard that can blind you in the world's snowiest places."
Lindsey Ward of Sun Media also led off her review by bringing up Beckinsale's knickers:
"For a film that has a lot to do with freezing your bottom off in Antarctica, it sure doesn't take long for Whiteout star Kate Beckinsale to be stripped down to her knickers. Just seconds into the English actress' character, U. S. Marshall Carrie Stetko's first scene in the action-thriller, she enters her dorm at a male-dominated ice-field research station and proceeds to prepare for a steamy shower. She ditches that pesky parka, and soon all we can see—in closeup—is her booty-shorted bottom and bare back. It's a scene Underworld fan-boys will love, and many more viewers will just shake their heads at because, well, it has absolutely no relevance to the film."
Which got us to wondering—why is poor Whiteout taking the heat for nudity when there are so many other movies out there showing a similar amount of skin? Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly came up with the best reason we could find—that in this particular film, it just happened to be one cliché too many:
"A few naked guys streak outside during a party scene early in Whiteout. But other than that ... Kate Beckinsale is the only one who takes the time to strip down, enjoying a lingering shower before suiting up again (complete with a pretty, fur-trimmed hat) to face a well-insulated killer in this snow-based cartoon action thriller. I'm all for attractive actors of all sexes stripping down in cartoon action thrillers, and I support the right of movie stars to deduct the cost of personal trainers to keep them on-screen shower ready. I guess I was so struck by the superfluous skin shot because it's just so ... superfluous, and so clichéd, and one of so many cheerily cheesy clichés snowballed into one average movie."
By Omen at 4:39 PM ON 09/11/09
Still not nuf for me Kate.
So I'll wait for it on cable.
Try more next time.
Oh, & a better film,too.
By timstep at 5:04 PM ON 09/11/09
It's irrelevant if the movie is based on a comic book. A large portion of the audience isn't going to know that. The movie has to stand on it's own. It seems that the reviewers are pointing out the superfluous nature of the scene planted right at the beginning of the film.
For every good film Kate Beckinsale has made, she's got about twice as many clunkers, and the clunkers seem to rely on her beauty to attract a male audience.
By bob at 5:16 PM ON 09/11/09
Sweet! There's a shower scene!
By Zaphod at 5:56 PM ON 09/11/09
Okay, Syfy Wyre, let's not get too snarky. Lest we forget there was an article posted here a few days ago that primarily focused on the shower scene in this movie. There's a review of Sorority Row today that focuses on the nudity in that movie. That's at least the second, if not third article about that particular movie in which nudity was a major part of the discussion.
Don't get me wrong. I like nudity in movies. The more gratuitous the better, but, dudes, c'mon! Why don't you just start up a branch site that deals with this fixation called Syfy Skyn or something.
By bob 2 at 6:47 PM ON 09/11/09
critics trashing a movie, what a news...isn't this the only job they have?
By Outersider at 10:13 PM ON 09/11/09
Saw the movie and it's a decent murder mystery that takes place at the South Pole. It would have made a better TV movie but the snow effects are pretty good.
By AngryJonny at 12:26 AM ON 09/12/09
Zaphod:
SyFy Skyn is a brilliant idea! Nudity in sci-fi films! I'd make it one of my homepages!
By ozzimandius at 9:44 AM ON 09/12/09
Franklly if you read the book you realize,( and understand here I've not seen the film so I dont know if this fact makes the transition or not). the shower scene does infact have purpose due to it leading to a flash back tha is key to the storyline.
By SethSJ at 10:52 AM ON 09/12/09
Kate Beckinsale should play the Major in the live action Ghost in the Shell film. That should hopefully be enough for everybody.
By ArcLight at 1:35 PM ON 09/12/09
When it comes to fairly uninteresting films like Whiteout, I don't mind them leaving out the comic book connection. Or putting in Kate Beckinsale shower scenes.
By kryptoniteman at 2:19 AM ON 09/13/09
Y'know, i think a Kate Beckinsale movie sucks when she DOESN'T get nekkid. (I'm probably gonna get rapped in the mouth for that)
@SethSJ:
I'd be first in line for that flick, if it happened!!
By Muldfeld at 2:50 AM ON 09/13/09
I have no interest in this film, though I might change my mind. It's sad to see Kate Beckinsale waste her talents on silly films.
She did a great and underrated film in 1997 called "The Last Days of Disco" and, more recently, "Snow Angels". She's great in both, especially the latter.
By A Mahone at 8:00 AM ON 09/13/09
How is this film silly Muldfeld? It's an action thriller. Also, when was this a "cartoon action thriller" ? Lindsey Ward from Sun Media needs to do a bit more research as she can't tell the difference between a comic/graphic novel and a cartoon. Poor thing, she's so easily confused.
As someone else mentioned, the shower scene was important, but the story was changed a bit to suit the big screen, and while it might be a bit gratutious, in a film where people are mostly covered up, the merest hint of it will get some people to go and see the film. A sad fact to be sure, but true. Oh and Sci-Fi ( I refuse to call it SyFy, like it's some kind of STD) let's not get too snarky, since the title of this very story is See Kate Beckinsale naked! and another "top" story on here is about girls from a soon to be dead TV show about vampires flashing people and being arrested. Fascinating and relevant and interesting sci-fi news, right there. Great reporting. Or not.
By Muldfeld at 1:50 PM ON 09/13/09
I could be totally wrong, A Mahone, but my impression from the ads was that it's just an action flick. No serious acting needed. Looked like a horror film or something. Kinda what Sarah Michelle Gellar has been wasting her talents doing since Buffy.
By Fury161 at 9:43 PM ON 09/14/09
I went to this movie with a pretty open mind and it really sucked. Do not waste your money. The story and acting and dialogue were all really flat.
By darthmalius at 12:55 AM ON 09/15/09
the movie was ok they maketed it all wrong though.
And we did NOT "See" her naked. She was in the shower but all we saw was her face and a blurry outline with no features that could have been a male co-star for all we know. I am pretty sure she has a no nudity clause now. As if no boobes = better actress *eye roll*.
Seriously take the best female performance EVER. Not put a fully nude (Real not hazy) shot of the actress in it. Did her performance now get any worse somehow? seriously?
By anon at 9:25 PM ON 09/15/09
All this talk about Kate being nude. Dont you guys remember when the press made such a big deal over the fact that a body double was used to do the shower scene?
The press said Kate went Diva and demanded it. The studio released a statement saying that Kate 'demanded' no such thing, that using body doubles is a run of the mill practice.
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anon:
All this talk about Kate being nude. Dont you guys remember when the press made such a big deal over the fact that...More »